Final Notice of Intent to Levy.
30 Days. Same Deadline as LT11. Same Consequences.

The CP90 is the same legal document as the LT11 — they are issued under identical legal authority, carry the same 30-day deadline, and have the same consequences if ignored. Some taxpayers receive a CP90 instead of an LT11 based on their account type or how the IRS processed their case. The notice you hold has the same legal weight regardless of which code appears on it.

It is the official "Final Notice of Intent to Levy and Notice of Your Right to a Hearing." The IRS has completed its legal obligation to notify you and can proceed with seizure of wages, bank accounts, and property once the 30-day window closes.

Filing IRS Form 12153 — Request for a Collection Due Process Hearing — stops the levy immediately. It preserves your right to dispute the underlying debt, propose alternative resolutions, and challenge the IRS's proposed enforcement action through the Office of Appeals. The vast majority of cases filed at this stage resolve through negotiation — never a formal court hearing. But you must file first.

The CP90 is the IRS's final notice before levy — and by this stage, the balance reflects penalties and interest compounded across the entire collection sequence. The Failure-to-Pay penalty has likely hit its statutory maximum of 25% of the original balance. Interest at the current federal rate (compounding daily) has been running for months or years. A Notice of Federal Tax Lien has almost certainly been filed and is on your credit record.

What the CP90 introduces is an irreversible change to your enforcement exposure: after the 30-day window, the IRS can levy wages, bank accounts, Social Security payments, retirement accounts, and real property simultaneously. There is no additional notice required. A wage levy, once activated, is continuous — it attaches to every paycheck until the liability is fully paid or a resolution arrangement stops it.

The longer a CP90 goes unanswered, the more likely the IRS is to issue multiple simultaneous levies — wages, bank accounts, and state refund — rather than a single targeted action. Acting within the 30-day window is the only way to prevent that scenario.

The CP90 is functionally similar to the LT11 — both are Final Notices of Intent to Levy with a Right to a Hearing. The primary difference is in how your account reached this point and which IRS collection unit is handling it. LT11 notices are issued by the Automated Collection System; CP90 notices are often associated with accounts that have been assigned to Revenue Officers or that have a more complex enforcement history.

The 30-day Collection Due Process right on a CP90 is identical to the LT11: request a CDP hearing within 30 days and all levy action is suspended while the hearing is pending before the IRS Office of Appeals. The CDP hearing is a formal legal proceeding where you can propose alternative collection methods, challenge the liability, or raise procedural defenses. Most CP90 CDP cases are resolved by settlement before reaching a judge.

At the CP90 stage, the IRS has already exhausted the standard automated collection sequence and may have a Revenue Officer actively managing your account. The Revenue Officer has been building a collection file — documenting your assets, income, and business interests. This file informs the enforcement strategy. A CDP request filed immediately freezes that strategy and redirects the case to Appeals, buying critical time for a negotiated resolution.